Guanzhong Academy
by Serena McKeenzo
Summary: AU. The cast from DW are attending a prestigious boarding school; watch friendships and romances develop between the students and the teachers. Based on the school uniforms of DW7. Lu Bu x Zhang Liao, Xiahou Dun x Cao Cao, Zhou Tai x Sun Quan, etc. YAOI
1. Opening Ceremony

**Warnings**: yaoi/slash, meanig boyxboy love  
><strong>Notes<strong>: I based the school on the French education system, where after high school people can go to "preparatory school", which prepares them for the entrance exam of the highest level universities in France.  
>On another note, I still haven't decided all the pairings, so suggestions are welcome! ^^<p>

**Chapter 1: Opening Ceremony**

"Welcome to the Guanzhong Academy of China, an educational institute for the most gifted young people of the country! You should be all proud of yourselves for securing a place…" the Headmaster's voice droned on as he gradually lost the students' attentions, his face beaming as he addressed new and old residents of the prestigious boarding school.

"Even with such excellent high school results, I am sure you will find the syllabus challenging, so I expect all of you to do your best while you are here. Your mentors and tutors will provide academic and pastoral support and look over…"

"Gosh, this speech was boring enough last year!" moaned Sun Ce, as he leaned back in his chair, suppressing a yawn. "Why do we have to listen to it again with the newbies?" he complained, turning to the young man next to him.

"It's part of the official opening ceremony, Bofu." the man chided, pushing his long hair over his shoulder. "The course is only two years, they supposed students can sit through this speech a second time without problem. It is a reasonable thing to expect I suppose, from people intending to go to such high-class universities."

Receiving a bored expression from his friend, Zhou Yu chuckled softly and turned back towards the stage. A sudden weight descended on his shoulder and he glanced down to see Sun Ce resting his head on him.

"…meet the head of dormitories, Cao Cao of Wei Dormitory…"

"Bofu, wake up!" Zhou Yu whispered flexing his shoulder to shake Ce off. "It's your father's introduction! Pay some attention!" he scolded his friend as Sun Ce blinked at him sleepily.

"… Liu Bei of Shu Dormitory, a distant relative of the founders of this school and…"

"Bofu!"

"I'm awake, stop poking me!" Sun Ce complained, regaining his composure just in time to see his father walk up to the stage.

"… and Sun Jian of Wu Dormitory, do not be fooled by his kind appearance! He can be fierce as a tig-…"

"You should really show more respect to your father." Zhou Yu chided good-naturedly, knowing very well that there was no changing his best friend. Sun Ce just shrugged, losing attention the moment his father walked off.

"Whichever dormitory you applied for, I am sure you will enjoy the years you will spend with your mentors and fellow students here and that you will build lasting friendships with people from different dormitories…"

"Can I go back to sleep now?" he asked, turning to Zhou Yu.

"You really are horrible, you know that?" the handsome man chuckled. "You're not showing a very good example to your siblings, you know."

"I'm showing the best example they'll find out there. Maybe Quan'll learn some manliness from me at last."

"Ah yes, it worked perfectly well with Shang Xiang too."

"Hey! It's not my fault she's such a tomboy."

"I suppose not… She's just following her brother's example."

"That was low, Gongjin."

"I know." Zhou Yu smiled mischievously, chuckling softly at Sun Ce's affronted expression.

xxx

"I can see you're bored." Sun Quan remarked, turning to look at his companion's eyes, hidden under his hat. "Are you a second year?"

"Hm." the man grunted in positive, watching the young boy from the corner of his eye.

"Ah, must be tiresome to listen to the same speech again. Not like it's very entertaining for the first time either… " Quan smiled shyly, getting nervous from the other man's unresponsiveness. "I'm Sun Quan by the way." he added quickly, holding out his hand to the second-year.

Not making any movement, the man eyed the hand extended to him. Just as Quan was about to pull it back, he grabbed it and shook hands firmly. "Zhou Tai." he murmured.

"Nice to meet you." said Quan, happy that he got a reaction at last and smiled brightly at his companion.

Noticing the younger man's open expression, Zhou Tai stiffened invisibly, not used to having so much attention directed at him. For the first time in a long time, he was searching his brain for something to say to the friendly man.

"You said your name's Sun. Are you a relative?" he asked in a low voice, his head indicating slightly towards where the heads of the dormitories were seated.

"Sun Jian? Um, yes, he's my father." Quan replied, becoming flustered at the mention of his well-known father. "I'm Sun Ce's younger brother, maybe you know him…" he rambled on, suddenly feeling embarrassed.

"I do." Zhou Tai replied in a voice that conveyed exactly how he felt about the carefree son of his dorm leader.

Sun Quan stopped his rambling and after a moment of stunned silence, he clasped his hand onto his mouth, trying to keep himself from laughing out loud. Zhou Tai, a bit surprised at the man's reaction stared at him before letting a small smile appear on his lips.

"That bastard, just wait till I get my hands on you!" Sun Ce raged silently, watching the exchange happening a few rows from where he was seated. "Getting all friendly with Quan!"

Zhou Yu glanced at the pair then looked back to his friend, expression incredulous. "Don't you think that's a bit harsh? They're just chatting. And Quan needs to make some friends too; don't you want him to gain some self-confidence?"

"Sure…" Sun Ce grumbled, still glaring daggers at Zhou Tai's head. "But that guy will only mess with him, nothing good will come of this, I'm telling you!"

Zhou Yu decided not to answer that and just sighed instead. Sun Ce was a bit too protective of his little brother and if it weren't for Zhou Yu stopping him, he would have locked him up in a tower long ago so no one could touch him. On a second thought, maybe Sun Ce wasn't just a _bit_ too overprotective…

xxx

"Hey girls!" Diao Chan heard an unfamiliar voice call out while she exited the auditorium. Turning around, he saw a young boy in the Shu uniform, wearing a flower in his hair.

"Wait up!" he called again, and Diao Chan and the other girls from Wu stopped and turned to him.

"Hi Suo." Da Qiao greeted.

"Hi, Da, Xiao and Shang Xiang." the boy greeted them all in turn. "And you, my lady, what name may I call you? I'm Guan Suo." he asked with comically overdone politeness, turning to Chan.

"My name's Diao Chan." she answered, finally realizing why the boy was so familiar. He was the younger brother of Guan Ping, a fellow second-year at the academy.

"A pleasure to meet you, Diao Chan!" he said, smiling brightly at his new acquaintance. "Are you a friend of Sun Ce too? I don't recall meeting you during the summer."

"I do know him, but I rarely spend time with him, I'm sorry."

"No prob." Guan Suo said brightly. "Our families live in the same neighborhood, so I've spent most of my summer with the Sun family, that's how I met the Qiao sisters." he explained with a happy smile.

"You're the younger brother, of Guan Ping, am I right?" she asked politely.

"Yup, sure I am!" Guan Suo proclaimed proudly. "Do you have any relatives in the school?" he asked cheerfully.

"Erm, well…" she mumbled, the question catching her by surprise. Her family relations were well known within the school but it was rarely brought up with her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you!" Suo said quickly when he noticed Diao Chan's discomfort, a wide-eyed look replacing his happy expression.

"Don't worry about it." Sun Shang Xiang laughed at Suo's panic. "We just usually don't talk about this. She's the adoptive daughter of Dong Zhuo."

"Dong Zhuo? That bea- I mean man?" Suo exclaimed in surprise but got no response from Diao Chan. "Does that mean you're Lu Bu's sister?" he asked incredously.

"Yes, it does." Shang Xiang supplied, placing her hands on Diao Chan's shoulders. "But as I said, Chan prefers not to talk about it."

"Ah, I'm sorry!" the Shu student said guiltily, suddenly realizing his mistake. "I didn't mean to bother you, Diao Chan-"

"Guan Suo!" a stern male voice interrupted him. Turning around, he came face-to-face with the Shu Dormitory's second-in-command, Liu Bei's advisor. "Shouldn't you be going to the dormitory meeting? Liu Bei's about to start the briefing."

"Yes, Mr Zhuge Liang!" he replied, quickly running off after his dorm mates.

"My ladies, shouldn't you do the same?" Zhuge Liang asked, turning to the girls in the red Wu uniforms. "I'm sure Sun Jian's waiting for you."

Realizing that they almost forgot about the briefing, they thanked the Shu advisor and hurried off as well to their dormitory building.

xxx

"I expect you all to respect and obey the dormitory rules during your stay here." Sun Jian said, looking over the students gathered in the meeting room of the Wu dormitory. "The advisor and I are responsible for your welfare as well as ensuring that you keep the school regulations." He indicated to Lu Meng, standing behind him. "As you all know, the dormitories have friendly competitions among themselves; however I must warn you that public and hostile rivalry is discouraged."

Liu Bei smiled softly at the people dressed in the green uniforms of Shu. "To encourage social integration, you will be housed in a flat for four or five students with single study bedrooms, sharing kitchen and bathroom facilities as well as a living room. You all will be held responsible for any damage in the flat, regardless of who has done it, keep that in mind. You can choose your rooms and collect your keys after the meeting from my advisor." Zhuge Liang, standing behind the Shu head indicated towards the signup sheets and keys placed on the desk before them. "The library and extra study rooms are located…"

"As the headmaster said, we expect you to do your best academically and enjoy your stay here." Cao Cao's stern voice commanded the attention of all Wei students. "Within the next week you will receive the signup sheets for the autumn school trip which I hope you'll all attend. Have a pleasant year in the Guanzhong Academy! You are dismissed." He finished his mandatory speech written for all head of dormitories and sighed inwardly as he watched Sima Yi handle the students struggling to get the rooms they wanted. Not like the rooms weren't all the same…

"You look troubled, cousin."

Glancing to his side, Cao Cao saw that Xiahou Dun sneaked into the meeting room during the commotion the students now caused. Sighing aloud this time, Cao let some of his tiredness show.

"These speeches bore me and I see no point of them. The students know all about room arrangements and the facilities already and they won't keep the rules, no matter how many times they're told to." He explained, turning towards his cousin fully.

"I understand, Mengde, but it's still your responsibility to hold this meeting every year." Dun replied, his expression not betraying his concern for Cao Cao. "It's not like this has troubled you so before." he added.

"You're quite perceptive, Yuanrang." Cao Cao smirked, there weren't many people who could read him quite like the stoic man beside him. "This year, my son's attending as well."

"Cao Pi? I thought he didn't want to choose Wei."

"I thought so as well. Maybe he's doing it just to spite me. It would be just the thing he'd do." Cao Cao exhaled through his nose, gaze wandering back to the students crowding around his advisor's table. He easily spotted his son, standing out in his white student council uniform. It was no surprise to him that Cao Pi passed the summer tests and got into the council, he was after all his father's son.

Sensing someone's eyes on him, Cao Pi looked up and his eyes met with his father's for a long moment. However, he only smirked arrogantly at the warning in Cao Cao's eyes and turned away, not noticing his father narrowing his eyes at his behavior.

"You needn't worry about him, Mengde." Xiahou Dun said after observing the exchange and placed a hand on his cousin's shoulder. "His arrogance wouldn't let him bring shame to his family's name."

"I hope you're right." Cao Cao said with a sigh, squeezing Dun's hand on his shoulder in gratitude.

"SWEET! I'll be in the same flat as you, Zhao!" A loud voice echoed through the room, making both older men cringe at the noise. Looking over, Xiahou Dun visibly paled then sighed, hiding his embarrassment.

Noticing his behavior, Cao Cao eyed the loud boy and asked. "Is that Yuan's little brother, Yuanrang?" After a small nod, he added. "He does seem quite similar to him." he said with a smirk, enjoying his cousin's discomfort way too much.

xxx


	2. Meet Your Flatmates

**Warnings:** yaoi/slash, violence, language (Lu Bu makes an appearance…) and drunken craziness  
><strong>Notes:<strong>  
>1. I'm finally starting to see where I want to head with this fic! The start may be a bit slow-paced, I'm having too much fun with the interactions of some characters, like Guan Suo. I just can't stop writing about him! And he's supposed to be really minor character…<br>2. I'm decidedly uncreative with chapter titles… Ehh….  
><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> I don't own Dynasty Warriors, Romance of the Three Kingdoms or Chinese history, just using the characters for my own perverse enjoyment.

**Chapter 2 – Meet Your Flatmates**

"With you, Zhou Yu and me, we have three people for the flat, which means we need one more. Any ideas?" Sun Ce asked, addressing his classmate and friend, Taishi Ci.

"I would suggest Gan Ning…" Taishi Ci started, but after seeing the horrified expression on Zhou Yu's face, changed his mind, "or we could ask one of the first years. Didn't you make friends with them in summer camp, Bofu?"

"Sure I did!" the Sun heir replied brightly, searching his brain for someone cool enough to invite into their flat. "How about-"

"Zhou Tai, have you signed up for a room already?" Sun Ce stopped short in his sentence when he heard his brother speak behind him. Quickly turning around he wrapped his arms around Quan's shoulders and exclaimed loudly, before Zhou Tai had a chance to reply.

"Hey, Zhongmou! I was just looking for you! We are short one person for our flat, you could join us." he smiled brightly, not even glancing in Zhou Tai's direction. As Quan opened his mouth to refuse politely, he interrupted him again.

"Cool! Now you won't have to worry about finding flatmates anymore, knowing you, you couldn't have made friends in such a short time." Sun Ce said cheerfully, looking up at Zhou Tai for the first time and staring at him pointedly while he said that. "We'll have such a blast this year! I'll make sure you come out of your shell, brother, and get to know some cool people!" he added, turning back to Quan and then dragged the embarrassed boy away to collect their keys.

As they walked away, Zhou Yu, Taishi Ci and Zhou Tai stood there in stunned silence at just what happened before them. Clearing his throat, Taishi Ci quickly excused himself from the growing awkwardness of the situation and went after the Sun brothers. Just as Zhou Yu was about to apologize on Sun Ce's behalf, the usually quite man broke the silence.

"He's very possessive of his brother." he stated.

Looking over at his companion, Zhou Yu studied the man's stoic expression. "Yes, he is. It seems Quan is the only one in the family without their trademark outgoing personality and it makes Ce believe that he needs protection."

"Hm." Zhou Tai grunted in acknowledgment and watched the brothers collecting their keys at the other side of the meeting room. "He's overprotective."

"He is." replied Zhou Yu with a sigh. "But please, don't let it deter you. Sun Ce needs to learn to let his brother go and Quan could use a friend too."

Not bothering to answer, Zhou Tai nodded to Zhou Yu in goodbye and walked away.

xxx

"Wow." Guan Suo exclaimed as he stepped into the room he'd live in for the next year. Placing his backpack on the bed, he looked around, admiring the bedroom.

"This is sweet!" he said as he opened the wardrobe and noticed how spacious it is. The room was moderately sized, comfortably fitting a bed, a desk, a wardrobe, a bookshelf and a chest of drawers. He even had a comfortable-looking armchair in one corner as well as a high-backed office chair placed in front of the desk. There were plenty of shelves and storage units to place his belongings into without overcrowding the bedroom.

Too excited to start unpacking, Guan Suo instead left his room to tour his flat. They had two separate bathrooms, one with a bathtub and the other with a shower, a well-equipped kitchen with which Guan Suo fell in love with immediately and a spacious living room. Just as he flopped down on the couch he heard heavy footsteps coming from the entrance area where all rooms opened from. Kneeling up on the couch, Suo glanced out the open doorway to see who his new flatmate would be only to gasp at the sight before his eyes. The man was at least 6'10" tall with a strong built, dressed in all black instead of the green Shu uniform and carrying a sport bag over his shoulder. Even though Guan Suo never saw him personally, he heard enough of the man from his brother to recognize him from the unmistakable air of strength surrounding him.

Suo flinched as Lu Bu walked past the door of the living room without so much as a glance towards the smaller boy. Frozen in his place, Suo watched the spot Lu Bu disappeared from, not yet fully realizing that he'd be sharing a flat with the fearsome man. When a hand clamped down on his shoulder, Guan Suo cried out and jumped, not noticing the other student sneaking up on him.

"Woa, sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!" the man apologized quickly.

"Oh, no problem, I just… zoned out for a moment there." Suo explained sheepishly, taking in the other man's appearance. His long hair was tied into a high ponytail and he wore a long scarf on top of his uniform.

"I'm Zhao Yun." the man introduced, extending his hand to the younger man. "Second year."

"Hi, I'm Guan Suo, first year." Suo said, shaking Zhao Yun's hand with a smile. At least he'll have one normal flatmate.

"Then you must have heard about Lu Bu from your brother, Guan Ping." after the boy's nod, Yun continued, "Don't believe all he says, Lu Bu is not someone to be afraid of. As long as you don't bother him, he'll keep out of your way, trust me."

"Well… It's kinda unavoidable to run into each other with these living arrangements." Suo replied nervously, earning a chuckle from Yun.

"Don't worry, Lu Bu is not a bully; he's more of a lone wolf disobeying the rules. Although I wish Mr Liu Bei wasn't so lenient with him, he's none of our concerns. Just let the teachers handle him."

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." Suo smiled, grateful for the calming words of the older boy.

"Hello?" They both turned towards the entrance door of the flat at the timid voice, spotting a young boy in light colored pants and dark green jacket.

"Hey, Jiang Wei!" Guan Suo greeted, face shining with happiness. "I'm glad you made it into the Academy too! And look at you, student council member! Congrats!" Suo praised, making Jiang Wei blush at the compliment.

"You've met each other before?" Zhao Yun asked after watching the friendly exchange.

"Yes, we met in summer camp." Jiang Wei explained. "I don't believe we met there. My name is Jiang Wei. And you are…?"

"Zhao Yun." he supplied. "And no, I didn't go to the camp this year, I was busy. But to be honest, I don't really mind. It's painful making friends and then finding out that they weren't accepted in the end."

"Um, yes, that is a pain." Suo said, scratching the back of his head. "I mean, why invite all applicants to the summer camp and not just those who actually got in? Would save us a lot of trouble." he finished with a dramatic sigh.

"I believe it has to do with the lengthiness of the application procedure." Jiang Wei answered. "They wouldn't be able to finalize the selection before sending out the invitations, so they instead invite all final-round applicants. We did have one more interview a week after the camp after all."

"That's right." Zhao Yun said. "I talked with Mr Liu Bei once and he doesn't like having the camp before finalizing the results either but there's just no other way to do it."

"Well, at least you made it, Wei!" Suo beamed, slapping his friend's back gently. "I can see that this year'll be great!" he said, pumping his fist into the air.

The other two laughed at the boy's enthusiasm and after some more light chat, Zhao Yun suggested a tour of the campus. The first-years gladly agreed and Yun showed them important things like the shortest routes between classrooms and the best places in the garden for some quiet time. They've run into several other students on the way, like the fellow Shu first-years Liu Shan and Ma Dai and an enthusiastic Wei fresher, Xiahou Ba. Their group quickly increased in size and the tour ended in an outdoors get-to-know-each-other that lasted till late afternoon.

xxx

"What the hell?"

Zhang Liao looked up from the book he's been reading to see who has interrupted him in such a way. The hateful glare of the tall man dressed in black did not faze him though and he calmly returned to his studies.

Lu Bu growled at the other man ignoring him. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Studying. This is a study room after all." Liao replied seamlessly, without looking up.

"Go use another one."

"No. I like this one."

"This is _mine_!" Lu Bu growled and slammed his fist on the Wei student's table, making some papers flutter to the floor from the force.

Zhang Liao slowly raised his head to look into Lu Bu's eyes calmly, the display of strength not affecting him. "Is it, now?" he asked the enraged man.

Lu Bu glared at the younger man for a long moment, but after failing to intimidate him he straightened up with a growl and stalked over to the lone window of the study room. "Do as you wish." he said and opened the window before hopping onto the windowsill and getting comfortable with his back leaning against the frame and letting one leg hang outside. He fished out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from his pocket and without glancing at the other occupant of the room, he lit one.

After Zhang Liao gathered his fallen papers, they fell into silence and stayed like that for a few minutes, both men ignoring the other. Lu Bu gazed outside the window looking over the school's courtyard. It was on the fifth floor of the building, providing a good view yet being high enough not to be spotted easily from the ground.

Glancing at Liao from the corner of his eyes, Lu Bu contemplated the other man. He was surprised that there'd be someone studying so diligently even before classes started. Usually his threatening appearance was enough to drive anyone out from his room, but this one was surprisingly stubborn. Taking a long drag from his cigarette, Lu Bu wondered why he hadn't just kicked the man out as he usually did. He had to admit, it's been a while since he met such open defiance and it intrigued him. And it wouldn't do to get into trouble with Liu Bei on the very first day…

Zhang Liao glanced up from his book and their eyes met for a moment before the Wei student broke the contact and continued scribbling on his papers. Lu Bu however narrowed his eyes as he studied the other man's appearance. His uniform was worn properly with all the buttons done up, his shoulder-length hair was tied into a loose ponytail and his face was shaved perfectly apart from his beard and thin moustache. Noticing the taller man staring at him, Zhang Liao looked up with a scowl.

"What are you looking at?"

Ignoring him, Lu Bu continued to stare, that facial hair seemed awfully familiar and he could recall that someone had frowned at him in the very same way before… The first-year was about to comment on his behavior again when Lu Bu finally spoke.

"Zhang Liao, is it?" he remembered meeting the young boy a few months ago. He had attended some extracurricular activities in the academy and had been wandering the halls when Lu Bu spotted him. Their meeting was brief and Lu Bu's arrogance was met with a frown and cold dismissal.

"Yes. Have we met before?" Liao asked in suspicion, not recalling seeing the man before.

"Last year. You had some classes here." Lu Bu answered. Zhang Liao knitted his eyebrows at that and searched his memories for a clue about the tall man.

"You picked on me in the hallways." he said as he came upon that particular memory. "Haven't changed much, I see." Lu Bu just glared at Liao in answer. "But I don't seem to recall your name…"

Now that Lu Bu though about it, it must seem creepy to the other that he remembered his name even though they hadn't introduced themselves when they met. However, the defiant nature of the boy had interested him even then and he'd quickly found out his name from his classmates. But when his extra classes finished and Liao stopped going to the Academy, Lu Bu had quickly forgotten about him.

"Lu Bu." he said as he lit a new cigarette.

"I haven't seen you at the dormitory meeting."

Lu Bu looked at Liao in confusion, for once he did go to the dorm meeting. "Aren't you in Wei?" he asked, looking pointedly at the boy's purple uniform.

"Aren't you as well?" Liao frowned.

"No, I'm in Shu."

"You had a purple uniform when we met."

Now it was Lu Bu's turn to frown, it was very rare he wore his school uniform, no matter how many detentions the teachers gave him for it. Although there was a time when Cao Cao managed to force him into it and being the stubborn kid he was, Lu Bu reacted by picking a fight with anyone he'd run into in the corridors. Smirking at the memory, he turned to Liao, now remembering why he picked on him so many months ago.

"I used to be in Wei."

The man's blank expression clearly showed that he expected an explanation and being in a good mood, Lu Bu decided to humor him.

"Cao Cao had enough of me and kicked me out. But Liu Bei's such a soft-hearted fool, he took me in instead."

"Aren't you at least a bit fazed about being kicked out?" Liao frowned, he couldn't understand how the older boy could be so unaffected.

Lu Bu laughed at the question and took a drag of cigarette before answering. "No. I don't give a shit." he said, turning to gaze out the window.

"You are a fool."

The direct insult caught Bu by surprise and he turned back to glare at the younger man. However, his glare was returned by Liao with equal measure.

"So you plan on leeching off on other people's kindness through your whole life? I hear you're quite the ungrateful son." he mocked with a smirk.

"To hell with you!" Lu Bu growled, the mention of his adoptive father was enough to enrage him. He tossed the butt of his cigarette out the window and hopped off the windowsill, advancing on the seated man with determination. Grabbing the front of his uniform, Lu Bu pulled the other student from his chair and slammed him against the wall.

"Mind you words, bitch." he snarled, holding Liao up against the wall, his legs dangling in the air a good foot off the ground. He leaned into Liao's face, the other man's impassive expression further angering him.

They stared at each other for a long moment before Zhang Liao spoke slowly. "You smell." he said as he inhaled the scent of the cigarettes Lu Bu had smoked, still not bothering to push the larger man off him.

Insulted, Lu Bu threw the younger man across the room with a roar, grinning in satisfaction as he heard the loud crash of some furniture breaking under the Wei student. Not appeased so easily, Lu Bu stalked after him slowly as Liao gathered himself up from the floor. When he made a grab for the boy's neck, however, Liao caught his wrist and directed a hard kick to Lu Bu's shins followed by a punch to the gut. Surprised at the fight in him, Bu stayed unmoving, leaning over Zhang Liao's shoulder with his right wrist in a death grip and Liao's fist against his stomach.

Slowly, a grin made its way to his lips and he started to chuckle quietly in Liao's ears. With his free hand he grabbed the back of the boy's neck before Liao could react and pulled him off, trying to break his other hand free. Liao, however, put up quite a fight and they struggled against each other, Lu Bu greatly amused that he found someone who could prove to be a challenge.

However, even Zhang Liao's strength wasn't enough to defeat the fierce man and Lu Bu slowly overpowered him and slammed him onto the desk he's been studying at. Beaten, Liao still glared up at the man hatefully and was prepared to break his hold on him when an opening presented itself.

"Know your place." Bu rumbled as he tightened his grip on Liao's throat. Feeling his air being cut off, Liao made a desperate attempt to kick Lu Bu off but with his awkward angle his tries went ignored by the larger man. Enjoying the show, Lu Bu smirked in delight at the struggling man.

"Did you hear that?" Lu Bu snapped his head up at the sound of footsteps outside the room. Trying to make use of the situation, Liao pushed up against Bu's hold only to be slammed back down.

"Mr Cao Cao?...No, we heard a commotion…"

Scowling, Lu Bu released the other man and hurried over to the window. Hopping up onto the windowsill, he stopped and glanced back at the man sitting on the desk.

"I'll see you around, bitch." he smirked and jumped out the window just as Cao Cao slammed the door open. Ignoring the questions directed to him, Zhang Liao stared at the open window, the skin on his throat reddening to reveal a large hand mark.

xxx

The first-years quickly discovered the small pub near the school campus and dragging the two second-years with them, decided to end the evening getting wasted. Or at least Xiahou Ba and Guan Suo did.

"Hi there, how did you get with us?" Guan Ping asked as he sat down beside his brother and noticed a boy dressed in the Wei uniform on Suo's other side. "No offense, but why aren't you partying with the Wei people?" He only joined the group a few minutes ago, so he haven't seen the Wei fresher yet.

"Don't even mention it!" Xiahou Ba cried. "They're horrible! How did I end up with such a bunch of freaks?" he complained.

"Haha, I guess that's what you get for choosing Wei." Guan Ping mocked. It was well known that both Shu and Wu regarded Wei as their rival.

"Guan Ping, that's not nice." Zhao Yun scolded with a smile. "Shu Dorm is known for its kindness towards people from other dorms."

"That doesn't change that all students in Wei are creepy." Suo butted in. "_Almost_ all students." he added after Ba's indignant whine.

"Have you met them already?" Ma Dai asked with interest. "My brother, Chao doesn't like them either but I can't imagine what could be so bad about them."

With a dramatic sigh, Xiahou Ba started to explain. "First, there are the girls. Zhen Ji and Wang Yuanji are both such ice queens! They're almost as scary as that fellow, Deng Ai! What happened to feminine gentleness?"

"I suppose they don't teach that in Wei." Suo laughed, holding his beer in hand.

"Exactly!" Ba agreed. "Or any kindness at all! Have you met Cao Pi? All he cares about is being the best at everything, not a hint of emotion in that man."

"At least he makes a good match with Zhen Ji." Jiang Wei added.

"They're going out?" Zhao Yun asked in surprise after almost chocking on his drink. "That was fast!"

"Yeah, they met in summer camp." said Ma Dai. "And became the star couple immediately."

Zhao Yun hummed in realization, as he not attended the camp this year, he forgot some people met before the start of school.

"The Ice King and Queen, how fitting." Ba muttered sourly. "The only kind one in the girls' flat seems to be that first year, Zhang He. When I accidently wandered in there, Zhen Ji and Wang Yuanji almost murdered me with their glares, only Zhang He was helpful. Although that didn't help ease his creepiness…"

"Zhang He? Who's that?" asked Guan Ping before taking a gulp from his beer.

"The gay guy." supplied his brother.

"That's not fair." Liu Shan added timidly. "He's just a bit… extravagant."

"Extravagance is something you'll get a lot of here." Zhao Yun laughed. "It's part of the package of being one of the most gifted students of China I suppose." he joked.

"And how are your flatmates? Have you met them already?" Ma Dai asked and took a swig of his beer.

"Well… This guy, Sima Zhao is kinda okay…" Ba answered, gulping down some of his beer. "But I wouldn't spend a minute with his friend, Zhuge Dan! That guy must have a _huge_ stick up his ass and acts even more arrogant than Cao Pi! The other two seemed okay, Xu Huang and Xu Zhu I think. Though Xu Zhu seems to be the, erm… extravagant type."

"Like Zhang He?" asked Liu Shan, sipping his apple juice slowly.

"No, not at all." laughed Ba. "This guy's almost as wide as he's tall! And all he seems to think about is eating! I wonder how he got in at all!"

"I know the last two." said Zhao Yun. "They're second-years, Xu Huang is the captain of the local kendo team I think. And Xu Zhu is harmless – he just seems fierce, but once you get used to him, he's actually a nice guy."

"Who's obsessed with Cao Cao…" muttered Guan Ping, earning a laugh from the other second-year in the group.

"Isn't Sima Zhao the little brother of Sima Shi?" asked Jiang Wei, after their laughter died down.

"I think he is." Xiahou Ba replied with a thoughtful look on his face.

"I met Sima Shi at the student council meeting." Wei said. "I was surprised that Wei has two representatives when all the other dorms only have one."

"That's because of the Jin scholarship." Zhao Yun helped out. At the blank look of the first-years (minus Xiahou Ba), he decided to elaborate. "Wei has this weird scholarship awarded based on God-knows-what. That's why they have slightly more members than the other dorms. Jin people even have a completely different uniform and can send their own representative to the student council. Although I believe he has less authority than the Wei representative… Last year, the Jin council member wasn't very active so I don't know what he _could_ have done."

"Were you a council member last year?" Jiang Wei asked with interest as he played with his glass.

"Yeah, I was. But we didn't have anyone like Cao Pi or Sima Shi then. I doubt it'll be so peaceful there this year…"

"Is this Sima guy so bad?" Ma Dai asked with his jug in his hand.

Guan Ping and Zhao Yun looked at each other before Ping decided to answer.

"Remember when we talked about Cao Pi? Well, from the sounds of it, Sima Shi is just like him. Cunning and heartless, people think he's planning with his cousin, Sima Yi, to make a separate dormitory for Jin scholarship holders. Or maybe just take over Wei's."

"Take over?" Xiahou Ba exclaimed in worry.

"Well, that's what they rumor." Ping answered nonchalantly. As the color drained from Ba's face, the people at the table laughed out and Suo patted his friend on the back.

"Don't worry, the same rumors have been going around even since I started my first year." Zhao Yun laughed. "I suppose it's just that Sima Yi looks like he's plotting something all the time…"

"He's the Chemistry teacher, right?" Guan Suo asked and took a gulp of his new jug of beer, though he didn't remember when they ordered a new round.

"Oh no, an evil Chemistry teacher?" Xiahou Ba asked, mortified. "We're doomed."

They all laughed out at that, the effect of the alcohol slowly setting in. "Uncle Fei hates him as well, he always uses him as the villain when he feels like storytelling." said Liu Shan.

"Uncle Zhang Fei?" asked Guan Suo. "Yeah, he told me those stories as well, although I somehow doubt Sima Yi is capable of summoning laser beams with a feather fan!" he said, earning another round of laughs.

"Speaking of Uncle Fei, how come Xing Cai didn't come?" Guan Ping asked from Shan.

Blushing at the mention of her, Liu Shan muttered with his eyes cast down. "Erm, I think she didn't feel like going out… I think she's not the partying type…"

"Aw, she doesn't know what she's missing." laughed Guan Suo.

And indeed, she missed out on a good night out with friends and although a lot of alcohol was consumed, an equal amount of stories were shared and the Shu first-years (plus Xiahou Ba) formed some of their first lasting friendships that night.

xxx

The very same night, in a bar much farther from the reach of the regular students, the teachers of Guanzhong Academy were celebrating the start of the new school year in a similar fashion.

"Cao Cao! Liu Bei!" Sun Jian called out to his fellow dorm leaders. "Look at the camera!" he exclaimed as he wrapped his arms around the two men and pulled them close. Just as Liu Bei glanced towards where the Wu leader was looking, a camera flashed and he was blinded for a few seconds.

"I hope this doesn't end up on Facebook…" Bei muttered, trying to blink away the spots in his eyes.

Chuckling, Cao Cao helped the half-blind man to one of the couches at the back of the bar, Sun Jian having long disappeared in the crowd. "Are you afraid of what your nephews would think?" he asked once they sat down.

"I'm just afraid that they wouldn't let me live it down, especially Guan Yu's sons. I'm glad Liu Shan doesn't seem to follow their example." Liu Bei said with a small laugh, which Cao Cao refused to call a giggle.

"Liu Shan? Is he your son?" Cao Cao asked. He rarely talked with Liu Bei as they had some, well… idealistic differences. He knew of Guan Yu's sons, having taught one of them himself but didn't know much more of Liu Bei's family.

"Oh God, no!" Bei protested. "I'm not fit to raise kids." he said, eying the drink in his hand. "I think." he added as he lapsed into a thoughtful silence.

"So, is he another nephew?" the Wei leader pressed, finding it strangely amusing to converse with a drunken Liu Bei.

"Yeah, he's my older brother's son. My blood brother I mean. I do have some proper siblings, not just my sworn brothers." he said, almost accusingly as he looked up at Cao Cao.

"I imagined you would have." the older man replied with a chuckle. Thinking about it, he haven't seen any of Liu Bei's sworn brothers yet, which meant that the Shu leader had come alone. Otherwise, the brothers would have already swarmed around Liu Bei like mother hens protecting their chicks.

"Maybe I should get another one…" he heard the slurred speech of the younger man, whose glass was suddenly empty.

"Probably you shouldn't." Cao Cao tried, seeing as his companion was wasted enough. But he was ignored and Liu Bei made a move to stand up. Cao had half a mind to stop him but he decided that he didn't care if the other man ended up passed out on someone's bathroom floor, as long as it wasn't _his_ bathroom floor.

However, Liu Bei's wobbly feet refused to carry him anywhere and with a yelp, he fell back onto the couch, hitting something hard in the process.

"Liu Bei…"

Looking up, the young man noticed that he ended up sprawled in Cao Cao's lap and the other man didn't seem too happy about it. Finding his indignant expression funny, Liu Bei chuckled (_giggled_) again and snuggled into the older man's chest, wrapping his arms around his waist.

"Maybe you should go home…" Cao Cao tried persuading the drunken man, clearly uncomfortable in the intimate position they ended up in.

"Maybe…" he answered with another of those giggles that frayed Cao Cao's nerves. With a sigh, he wondered if he should call Guan Yu. Though maybe not, the man would surely blame _him_ for his brother's predicament.

"Cousin-" Xiahou Dun's eye widened at the sight before him: his cousin, seated in a shadowed area of the bar, was _cuddling_ with his hated rival, Liu Bei. "I'm sorry for intruding on you." He said and fled quickly, not letting his hurt show on his face.

"Dun, wait!" Cao Cao called out but was too late as Xiahou Dun was already lost in the crowd. "Damn…" he muttered, trying his hardest to ignore the giggling man in his lap. "This night keeps getting worse and worse…"

xxx

**Notes:  
><strong>1. I know Xiahou Ba is in Jin but it just felt better to put him in Wei… His DLC costume is a fencing outfit anyway, so just imagine him in Zhang He's uniform :P  
>2. I changed some of the family relations as you might have noticed, for convenience. I can't help that Sima Yi doesn't look a day older than Shi, so making him Shi's father would be a bit…. strange. Same with Liu Bei.<br>3. Suggestions for pairings and/or plot elements are still welcome!


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